DM#7: Dead to sin

Doctrine of the Mysteries #7

Dead to sin

The book of Romans does not waste any time in getting a believer straight in their faith. Romans is a foundational book, and it sets the standard, going forward, for the mystery doctrine. Having come through the first five chapters that bring us to justification, delivered to us as a free gift through Christ, and by the perfect grace of God, we come to chapter 6, an incredibly important, mile-marker chapter, and it packs a proverbial punch. The first 4-verses of Romans 6 sets a strong precedent for a believer who is committed to learning and living the mystery doctrine. Let’s see what it says,

Rom 6:1-4  What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?  (2)  God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?  (3)  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?  (4)  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

First, we must clarify what it means to be “dead to sin”. It means that sin has no more power over us. The wages of sin is death, but since we have now died to sin, in Christ, sin is rendered powerless to affect death to us. Since Jesus has died in our place, and we have been imputed His righteousness and life, sin cannot impose its sentence upon us. Though we still have the capacity to sin, the sentence of death for that sin has been removed from our lives. This is the gift of God to those who have responded in faith to the grace gospel. This is the justification that is spoken of in chapter 5 to those who believe in God’s Son.  

This is indeed a great blessing to receive, but the four verses above also impose upon the believer a serious and responsible tone. There is no fluff in these verses. It’s as if it is written to separate the committed believer from those who are casual, and shallow in their faith. Paul tackles the believer’s mindset head-on, basically saying that to continue from this point on, we are to grow up and start to think in ways that are truthful, devoted, and real.

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid.

When Paul uses the phrase, “God forbid”, he is cautioning us to stop thinking those preceding thoughts, which are ultimately carnal and ignorant. He is placing a big orange traffic cone in our way saying, “you will not go down that avenue of thought!” For a committed believer, these questions are not even worthy to ponder.

The rest of the passage brings us to the understanding, and reality, that God considers us to be dead to sin. In this light, how can we, who are dead to sin, live any longer therein. Inversely, we are also reprimanded, in a sense, to know, and understand, that we should be walking in newness of life, which is something that Paul will expound upon in more detail as we advance through the next few chapters.

Paul continues to add clarity to this enlightening passage,

Rom 6:11-13  Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.  (12)  Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.  (13)  Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

Since the fact that we are dead to sin is a positional statement, meaning that it is absolutely true in God’s view, but it is not a reality in our current physical position, there is a responsibility that rests upon us, which comes back to that statement of, “walking in newness of life”. Paul tells us to reckon something. In other parts of the passage, he encourages us to “know things”, (see verses 3, 6, 9, and 11). The point is that we need to educate ourselves to the truth. We need to renew our minds and think in alignment to our positional state and the revealed truth we are given. Though we are dead to sin, we are not to yield our members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin. 

The way to combat the reign of sin still occupying our mortal body is to allow the written Word of God to renew our thinking. Sin originates in our mind. Sin comes in thoughts and matures into reasoning and action. To prevent this pattern, we are to allow the Word of God, which we have read, studied, understood, and meditated upon, to fill our minds, and to influence our thoughts and actions. We combat sin by obedience to a renewed mind and a new pattern of thinking. Our responsibility is to the written Word, and obedience to it, so that we can yield ourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and our members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

In the next post we will continue in Romans 6 and looking at the next statement of truth; the fact that we are, “dead to the law”.